MTC CADETS’ AND MILITARY DEPARTMENTS’ UNDERGRADUATES’ ATTITUDES TOWARD HIGHER MILITARY EDUCATION AND MILITARY CAREER

Abstract

Contemporary armed force increasingly demands professionalization, resulting in the search for new forms of higher military education, including cooperation with civil universities. Within the ongoing reform of the Russia’s military higher education system, a new type of educational institutions, military training centers (MTCs) has been introduced. In the new education system, MTCs are in-between military academies and traditional military departments in civil universities. The article reports the findings of a sociological study conducted to reveal motivation, life strategies and attitudes toward military education and career among the MTC cadets, military departments’ students and undergraduates of the Russian Far East universities (N=600). Contrary to expectations, students of the military departments were found to have significantly more pro-military attitudes, whereas MTC cadets are characterized by the lack of social adaptation, vaguer life prospects, and some inconsistency between experience and expectations. At the same time, for the whole sample material benefits associated with military career are perceived as strong and important, probably reflecting unfavorable socioeconomic situation in the region.